Promise Me You Wont Cry
by Fatally Damned
Summary: A young woman is murdered by people from her soon to be fiances past. Coming back to comfort him and keeping him from loosing his mind, she vows to take revenge on the ones who stole her life. Edited. New Final Chapter
1. Chapter 1

            You live your life day by day, you watch visions and dreams come…fade. Those around you change…grow, and like most, you wonder what it all means. And, with every breath of air taken, a breath of air is stolen from the innocent. In the end, we are all damned, but some never see reality. Pain and suffering, sorrow, fear. Elements of life that are blinded by love, happiness…

After the darkness,

There comes a blinding light

But the light is only death

The moon its heart-broken guide

Through a void we call life

Better off cast aside

And here I stand at the end

Wondering if there is a point…

            She watches him from the desk, her chin rested gently upon the tops of her hands. Her eyes seem to glow as the white rings around her black contacts reflect. He glances up occasionally from his relaxed position on the bed, scribbling down fragmentary sentences and emotions. He spills his thoughts onto the white page.

"You seem restless." Her voice floats across the dimly lit room, echoing off to some unknown dark destination. 

"Restless…not really." He motions with a finger for her to come closer after shutting the leather bound journal. Before she reaches him, he changes his bodily gesture, leans his head against the headboard, and smiles. She comes closer, her arms loosely at her sides, eyes and head lowered in a stare. "Raven…" He moves a strand of hair from her face as she leans forward and onto the bed. Extending his hand with his black painted nails, she takes it into her own willingly. She sits on his lap, and as he presses his head to her chest, her heart beat numbs his thoughts. Raven runs her fingertips down the back of his neck. His cold hands find rest on her lower back.

"Can we go tonight?" She puts her arms around his neck and kisses his forehead between his eyes, causing him to shut them in a slow blink. A picture of the two falls to the ground, silently blown by the wind, but neither notice.

"Do you really want to?" He slides a few fingers across her face, admiring her pierced brow that matches his own. Sexual tension fades to hopeless romanticism. 

"Yes." She answers quietly in a breathy voice as he slides a hand up the back of her cut black shirt. Standing somewhat gracefully, she grabs a long black hooded sweater from a beat up chair, and as she slips it on, a bit of her mid-drift shows. He watches her quiet movements before gathering a few candles and his leather jacket.

            They walk hand in hand down the dirty, now empty street. Just noises of cars and everyday existence, but none and no one in sight. The moon isn't present, but the stars are shinning brightly enough to make up for it. The air is crisp and cool, but it doesn't bother them at all. Approaching the place where the dead lay, she smiles while pulling her hair back, her age non-existent as she laughs like a young child. In all her nineteen years, she has never been happier. Something tells her that everything will be all right.

The leaves, stiff and fragile, crumble beneath their feet, as they slowly walk to their favorite spot.

            Beneath a large, white marble angel with green eyes that stay burned in their minds, is where they'd spent their time, spoke true love, and made a deep bond. That angel had watched over them as they had made love silently, many a night where a tree hanging overhead cast shadows on their nude bodies. He spreads the blanket, and playfully pulls her down, her back against his chest.

            She lights the candles, and the small flames flicker, as they grow and decrease in size.

"James…" Her voice is serious, almost concerned in tone.

"Yes baby?" He kisses the top of her head.

"I love you." The sound of approaching footsteps is ignored, and the headlights not seen through the trees and head stones that act like filters, blocking illumination.

            He rises, and on one knee, kneels in front of her.

"I know this is kind of strange…we aren't really one with tradition…" They both laugh as she blushes, realization coming fourth. More leaves under foot rustle, but neither Raven nor James are the cause. "And I guess I don't have to ask because out souls are already locked…" She stands, and he takes her hand again. Whispers come and go in the night. For a while, they simply look into each other's eyes.

            She watches men running towards her from either side. No time to react, her panic is delayed as her lover, James, is pushed aside and down to the cold wet ground. A freezing pain shoots through her abdomen and to the ends of her body as steel pierces her flesh deeply. Her eye sigh blurs. The two men…maybe more…are gone as quickly as they appear without reason for action or concern. Her blood splashes across the angels garments as she slides down to the ground, her head spinning. He crawls, disorientated, only to see her wound spilling blood onto the light colored blanket. With the last of her strength, she lifts her shirt and laughs, her voice strained.

"I think I'll be alright, you think so?" He shakes his head in both answer to her question, and his own of the same point, mesmerized by the crimson that stains her skin. She touches the long deep gash with her fingertips and gasps. The tears begin to fall from his eyes knowing that even if he tries, he can do nothing to save her. She's lost too much blood. Nothing will save her now. Her body begins to tremble violently as she reaches to touch his face. In her weakness, her hand slides down across his chest to the ground again. Her blood has stained his cheek. "Don't cry…" Her breathing begins to grow shallow as he leans over her paling body to kiss her lips which are rapidly loosing their hue. He brings her into his arms and begins to sob uncontrollably, as with the last fallen tear from her eyes, she slips away. A deep regret settles over him.

"I love you…" A regret for never letting her hear those words before her innocence was stolen. Not letting her go, he wipes his eyes, and with tears and blood dripping from his fingertips, he puts out each burning candle. Holding her closely, he leaves the place of forgotten spirits…

            I watch him as he sits, one year to the day now, again like so many times before. He comes here every night, and re-lives the hell sent down upon us both. The Halloween decor up, and the candles at his side, he sits, not at my grave, but beneath the angel. He is quiet, staring at the ring on his finger, never removed since that night. He doesn't know that I am here, in the shadows atop a tombstone, one knee pulled up to my chest. He doesn't cry, for he can cry no more, and he tries to be strong because on that night, I'd asked him not to. For the first few weeks, he did so, but everyday at sunset, he looses himself in depression and tears. He sings me our song… _"For a minute there…I lost myself, I lost myself…" _ He is all apologies, but there is nothing to be sorry for. I kiss his cheek, and with speed, continue to walk through the darkness. I no longer have a soul. He whispers my name. I will right this wrong…

            To be blinded by love, is not wrong. Love is death. I know death…and I will soon know revenge. I've seen both sides, both heaven and hell, the hell here on earth. This is the playground of the angels and devils…and now, this is my playground…..


	2. Chapter 2

            She turns the handle and pushes the unlocked door open. No reason to do so, no reason to worry. No one comes around here anyway. Its late at night, he is asleep, so she steps lightly, looking over everything as she enters the cold apartment. Everything that she touched last is still in the same position, books still scattered across the coffee table. She sits down in a chair and picks up a journal she doesn't recognize…not her own, but James'. She lights a candle near by, as not to take the risk of turning on a light.

            _I miss her. Those are the only words I can manage to write…She isn't here, and I miss her…_

Shutting the book, a tear slips down her cheek…

Flashback… 

As they sit on the sofa, her legs carelessly thrown over his, he strokes her thigh closet to him gently, watching her without her knowing. She flashes him a glance and a smile.

_"James…why are you staring at me?" She asks politely, pushing hair behind her ear. He laughs, and picks up her hand, playfully tossing it as he thinks. She changes positions, her upper body now lying across his lower half, and as she faces downwards, she closes her eyes._

_"Raven, do you ever think of who you're going to spend the rest of your life with?"_

_"I'm seventeen, I'm not supposed to." She jokes._

_"But do you?" He implores again, more seriously._

_"Yeah…I do." She thinks nothing of his questions, but he stops again, taking time to calculate his words. Rubbing her neck with one of his free hands, the other resting on her back, she speaks again. "So what are you trying to say?"_

_"Nothing." He leans down and kisses her neck, causing a chill to fall over her body._

_"Are you teasing me?" He answers as he kisses her neck again slowly, his fingers tracing the tattoo illegally attained between her shoulder blades._

_"No."_

_"Yes you are…" Her voice is drawn back, senses taking the best of her._

_"I know…"_

Overwhelmed and startled, as she stands, she stumbles and knocks a few books to the ground, causing a loud crash. Panicking, she runs to the nearby closet, and slips inside, easily camouflaged in the darkness. With slow and unsure steps, he comes from the hallway into the room, looking around, but not nervously. In his state, having just awoken from a light sleep, it takes moments to notice the dim candle light. She watches him as he sits down, and stares at the flame. Not afraid, but puzzled.

"I must be loosing my mind." She quietly nudges the partially open door and makes it to the main door without being seen. Walking down the street, she stops in a small all night store.

"Evenin'." The clerk says, not bothering to look up from his newspaper. She smiles, and continues to the back for the magazines and weekly Times. Grabbing the latest, she pushes it onto the counter, searching through her pockets for spare change. "Don't worry about it miss." He folds the paper, and glances up at her, ignoring the black trails underneath both her eyes from eyeliner cried tears. "It's tomorrow already, no point in chargin' for yesterday's news now…" His words gradually grow quieter as hw stares at her face. "I…I know you from somewhere." She slips her hands into her sweater that she'd taken from the house. He begins frantically flipping through the news paper until obviously, he finds what he's looking for. Studying the photograph, he looks to it, then to her. "Naw…it can't be…" He picks up the paper and holds it towards the light, adjusting his glasses. He takes one last look at the necklace around her neck, and is taken aback. "You're the girl that…" When he looks again, she is gone, and a few dollars are left on the counter. "That was murdered…"


	3. Chapter 3

            The next night, she goes to where she once called home again. Walking to her bedroom, he lay sleeping on his side away from where she had slept so many nights before. She kneels on the floor and speaks to him softly, stroking his cheek.

"I'm sorry that I left you…and you know I love you." He stirs and she pulls her hand away hoping that he doesn't wake up. For a while, she watches him, just to reassure herself that he is all right. "I'm gonna find who did this to us baby…" Taking the ring from her finger, she slips it onto his pinky. She stands, walking, and as she passes the table, she is compelled to pick up the journal again. Turning the pages, she finds his newest entry. Unknowingly, she stands in the halls doorway.

_I swear she was here…I felt her here…but I think I'm loosing my mind…or what's left of it. I hope her soul is at peace. Maybe its what she's trying to tell me…_

Arms slip around her waist, and a head lowered into the bend of her neck. For a moment, she feels as though she is dreaming, but he speaks, and it clears her mind. He panics for a few seconds thinking he's kissed and caressed some beautiful intruder that resembles his dead girlfriend.

"Raven…it cant be…" He turns her around slowly, and looks into her eyes. Now there are no contacts, but the black color and white rings remain in each. He kisses her, and she lets herself get pulled in, but quickly pushes away. He sits down in the chair and waits for her to sit down opposite him on the sofa. "Raven…" She stares at the floor. "Raven…I don't know if I'm crazy so you have to talk to me and tell me that I'm not…" His voice is pleading, desperate. Still no answer, the only movement is her breathing. "Can you speak?" She nods, surprising him. "Are you ok?" She looks up.


	4. Chapter 4

"Are you?" He stops, remembering the sound of her voice, and his eyes begin to well with tears.

"Why…how are you here?" His voice is only a whisper.

"I don't know." She looks off to the side.

"You aren't just a vision are you? Just…something in my head…"

"Others see me." Her voice and tone are both short. Hardly any emotion. He comes closer, clearing a space on the table; he sits in front of her.

"Are you alright?"

Flashback…

In a small coffee shop, two people sit. The windows shine dim street lamps onto the dirty tables and into the smoky air.

"So what are you gonna do about it?" He sits back and folds his arms across his chest, patiently awaiting her answer.

_"Do about what?" She shoots back rudely, her usual opaque emotions in full force. He sighs, and asks again, having gone through this many times before._

_"You wont tell me what's wrong," She starts to open her mouth, but is cut off. "and don't deny that there is something wrong…so what are you gonna do about it?"_

_"I'm fine."_

_"Raven…"_

_"James!" She says, disgusted with his questioning._

_"Fine, if its what you want, I promise, I will not speak another word of this but understand that when you wake up screaming in my arms that it isn't normal." His tone is harsh and his voice, raised. She looks away out into the street, the shadows of passerby's shutting out the light ever so often. A tear runs through her black eyeliner and down her cheek._

_"I'm worried about you." She whispers, watching the cars pass by through the rain, the leaves blowing violently. He reaches across the table and rubs her arm._

_"You don't need to worry about me. No ones gonna hurt me again." She takes a deep breath, and he continues. "But I'm really concerned about you."_

_"Why…"_

_"Because I don't know what they'll do…but they'll never hurt you…they know that you have nothing to do with this…they wouldn't dare…"  
"But I have these…visions, dreams…that they hurt you…" She looks at him, her eyes still running, she pauses. "And you don't make it." She is defiant against her own words. He closes his eyes because he knows that at any time, her dreams could become his nightmare as well as her own. _

_"They wont." He rubs his thumb across her chin. "So…" Putting both elbows on the table, he smiles at her. She looks him in the eyes and begins to cry harder, her fear for his life overwhelming her. He tries to ignore her for the sake of not breaking down himself, and continues on. "Tomorrow is Halloween, and what shall we do darling? Pass out candy? Make love?" She makes eye contact with him again._

_"Don't cry…that's what you're thinking." She laughs and wipes her eyes. Leaning the same way so that they are eye to eye, he kisses her. "I wanna go to our place…and I want to make love…until neither of us can see straight." He laughs and locks his legs with her beneath the table. "I love you." She whispers._

_"I know." They smile._

He reaches to touch her face, and she jumps.

"Is it ok to touch you?" He asks, already moving his palm down the left of her face. She lifts her own hand and presses it against his. "You're warm."

"Am I supposed to be cold…"

"You are if you're a dead body." She closes her eyes.

"I'm so sorry…I'm so sorry James." She begins to sob and blood tears stream from her eyes. He doesn't turn away despite his gut reaction to the crimsoned rain, but wipes them with his thumb and pulls her to him, taking a seat beside her.

Flashback…

Two men hold James back by both his arms as another spits in his face.

"You're a weak shit now, huh?" The man punches him in the stomach, causing him to fall to the ground. "Too good for us all…got a nice job now…got the girl…tryin' to live an honest life?" A kick to the ribs, sharp stabbing pain, it hurts now to breathe. The brutal man squats down in front of him, and the other men pull James up so that they are face to face. He takes James' chin into his hand. "Tell me…how is she? We didn't scare her much last week…did we?"

"What did you do to her?" More pain with every word, his mind flies with all the possibilities of hell they would and could have put her through.

"Oh…she didn't tell you?"

"You bastard…"

"We just paid her a little visit while you were away…though I have to admit…she doesn't react well to forcefulness…screaming."

"Did you make her cry?" The rage mounts in his voice. The man begins to laugh uncontrollably.

"You should have been there…it was great." Slapping James in the face somewhat hard, he smiles. "Don't call us, we'll call you." The men let him go, and all get into a black window tinted street-racing car. He stands after they drive off, and with shaky steps, makes it back to his Ninja motorcycle.

            Pushing open the apartment door, Raven runs to meet him, but stops short seeing his blackened eye and only the visible cuts and bruises. All she can do is hold her hand to her mouth.

"Are you ok?" He asks, carefully and slowly pulling off his jacket. He almost doubles over as he brushes his own chest with his arm. He runs and catches him before he falls.

"Me? Oh my god James…" Helping him to the couch, she begins asking him questions. "What happened? Who did this to you? How long have you been like this?" Laying him down, she kneels beside him on the hardwood floor.

"Baby never mind it, I'll be ok." She lifts his shirt, a bit against his will, and looks over all the abrasions.

"I don't doubt that they bruised your ribs…" She grabs a white tee shirt from the table and touches his lip, drawing away the blood. "They didn't kick you in the head or anything did they…did you fall?" He shakes his head to the best of his ability. Her eyes fill with tears. "Then I can let you go to sleep." She touches his face, then, laying her head down against the sofa, takes his hand. Little does she know, that she falls asleep before he does, as he rubs his thumb across the top of both her hands which tightly grip one of his own.

"Don't be sorry…" The blood from her eyes soaks his white collard shirt. He lies down and opens his arms welcoming her. She is unsure. He rubs a hand down her waist and across her thigh, then kisses her hand. She lays down knowing that she'll be gone by the time he wakes. Pressing his head gently onto her shoulder, he kisses her neck. "I miss you."


	5. Chapter 5

            She steps out into the cool air, and realizes where she has to go. A flash of a sleeping woman, a man walking through the front door of a lavish home. She has the keys to James' motorcycle. Taking it, she rides as fast as she can.

            Stopping half way down the street, she watches the man leave, taking precautions, looking around. He is pathetically unaware of her as she approaches his life's dream. Locking the gate, he gets into his expensive car, and with that, is gone. Climbing the fence easily, she finds an open window. The house is overwhelming modern…white carpet all too bright. Black Baby Grand piano topped off with a vase of crimsoned roses. How anyone could stand it, she has no idea. All too pre-created, nothing special…nothing individualistic…

            Walking around for a while, searching through drawers, she finds no information on anything. But then again, what did she expect to find? A murder list with her name on it? The knife that pierced her skin still bloody? Nothing but a deck of simple playing cards.

            She walks up the spiraling staircase to the second floor and main bedroom. A blonde, maybe a few years older, lays wrapped in snow colored satin sheets. She sits down on the edge of the bed, and stares at the female who awakens violently with a jump, looking back into the shadowy figure's eyes who has invaded her home.

"You aren't his wife…are you?" Asks Raven. Her tone is somewhat condescending. The woman pushes herself backwards, and accidentally into the ornate headboard of the bed.

"Who the hell are you?"

"Don't be so nervous." She unfolds and refolds her legs in front of her.

"I'm calling the police…" The terrified woman reaches clumsily for the phone, not taking her eyes off Raven.

"Don't bother…honestly, what could they do?" Raven flips the cards upwards and begins to speak to her again. The woman doesn't bother to relax. "Do you have any idea what your boyfriend does for a living?" Thumbing through the cards, she stops at the King of Hearts, and looks at the woman again. "Do you?" She nods slowly. "And you agree with it?" She doesn't answer. "Give me your arm." The woman doesn't speak, but shakes her head. "What's your name anyway?" She asks nonchalantly. "Never mind….don't make this difficult, just give me your fucking arm." Raven's voice is deceiving calm, yet full of rage and aggressive. After waiting a few more seconds, she reaches out and grabs her hand, pulling her forward. "I have a little message for your darling love…" She flips the card between her index and fore finger, and presses it into the shaking woman's arm. "Do you like art?.." No answer. "Say something…" She smirks.

"Y-yes." Forcing harder, she begins to carve deeply into her flesh.

"Art…a way of letting go..understanding…" She draws blood and can feel the woman pulling her arm backwards, trying to get free, but her efforts are futile. A bar code design can be seen underneath the bloody edged card, a crow sitting on the shoulder of the king who has a knife through his head. The barcode matches the one on Raven's wrist perfectly. After she's done, she places the card on top of the wound. "You've been warned." She stands calmly, and leaves the same way she came in, starting the motorcycle, and leaving to go back to James. Her fingertips are stained with the blood that poured out heavily, staining the sheets.

            He awaits her return, sitting on the windowsill, an out look over the city lights and streets. She isn't heard as she approaches him, and wraps her arms around his upper body. He doesn't turn to face her.

"I thought you'd left me."

" I can't leave…" It shocks him again to hear her voice.

"Where did you go?" He turns around so that she is in between his legs, and locks hands with hers.

"Nowhere important…" He kisses her neck. Stopping, again he looks into her eyes.

"You're dead…I cant believe that you're dead, and that your standing in front of me…still as beautiful…as sexually alluring…but dead. Dead." He seems as though he doesn't believe his own words. She puts a finger to her lips, and pulls him down. Leading him to their bedroom. She sits down, and he does the same.

"I am dead, but I am here…I am alive again. My body is warm, and tonight it is yours." She puts his hand on her chest, across her left breast, "My heart beats, but I know not for how long, so shall you make me yours again?" He thumbs her nipple through her black torn, tight fitted shirt as tears begin to trickle down her skin. She looks away, not being able to deal with his focus on her. Climbing on top of her, he speaks softly, his mouth close to her ear.

"I promise you…" He slides her shirt up and over her head. "That I'll make you mind, but you've always been mine, and you always will be. Always and forever, and even after that." His fingers slide delicately over her sexual entrance, and she closes her eyes, her body party under his control. "I love you…" he nuzzles his head into her neck as he enters her. "I love you Raven…"


	6. Chapter 6

            Her sudden jerks wake him as he has one arm around her waist. "Raven…"Blood streams from the corner of her mouth. She falls to the ground holding her stomach. Half nude, the floor is cold as he reaches out to her.

"Don't touch…me." She pushes herself against the wall grabbing his black trench coat from a chair above her. Standing, she finds the rest of her clothing, and after putting it on, staggers towards the door.

"You can't leave…" he watches but knows he shouldn't stop her. She slams the door as she exists. "Please…don't leave me again…"

Walking down the street, she holds herself, the aching tearing at her abdomen. The cause for this pain, her intercourse, caring, with the living. James' seed in her body. But no pregnancy can occur, just pain. Stopping in an alley, she lurches forward and regurgitates deeply dark blood. A loud caw is heard. A few meters down the alley, a man suspiciously ducks into a building, leaving a recognizable face in the car. Headlights blaring, she wipes her mouth and approaches. Sitting on the hood of the car, the man, no older than she, stares back.

"Hey you fuckin' bum, get the fuck off my car!" She hops off, ignoring her excruciating pain, and goes to the drivers side window. She flips three cards.

"Pick a card, any card. You get one question, answer correctly…" She smiles. "And you might just live. Answer incorrectly, and you get a surprise." He stares at her seemingly tear streaked face, light traces of eyeliner present.

"Are you on acid? Get the fuck out of here."

"Pick a card." Her hands shake slightly. Annoyed, he picks on and forces into her mouth, lipstick smearing onto the thick paper. With quickness, he turns away.

"Now get out of here." She takes it out, and now it also smeared with her blood.

"Two of Hearts. Two hearts torn apart…by you. Why?"

"You are completely tripped out aren't you?"

"Answer the question. Two people in a cemetery. You stabbed and killed the girl. You killed me."  
"Hey, it was business. I had orders."  
"From who?"

"I don't answer to no one. Piss off."

"Wrong answer." With a swift thrust, the card is pushed through his throat. His eyes turn round back into his head as a bubbling noise is heard coming from his mouth. "The dead never learn." She walks off as the man who's girlfriend she had harassed earlier comes out.

"Shit….ah shit…Danny what the hell happened to you…ah shit…"


	7. Chapter 7 End

            The next night, as she walks down the street from a brief check in on James, she tosses cards one by one. The ground is wet, and they stick as the fall lifelessly.

"To kill, not to kill, to kill, not to kill…decisions thoughts decisions." Coming to the alley again, her vision blurs giving her a view of undefined figures in the warehouse. Climbing to a second story window, she breaks the glass to get in. She stops, fearing she has alerted them, but when all is clear, jumps down and decides to explore. There are many offices, most empty, but a main one where they all are gathering. She sits down comfortably in a corner of the hallway right before the closed door and listens.

"Michel Anderson."

"Has he paid up?"

"Nope."

"Get rid of him." Same gruff voice. He shuffles his papers. Another man interrupts.

"Hey Stix, what happened to your girl? Where' she at?" After seeing what he had last night, he's been abnormally quiet. "You look like you seen a damn ghost…"

"She ain't comin' tonight. Why you so concerned huh?"

"Alright boys, lets cut the bullshit get back to business!" The focus is back on him.

"Ol' Jamesy boy."

"Is he still causing us problems?"

"That's just it. He ain't no more." They all chuckle.

"Call him up. Tell him to get his ass here." A man dials James' cell phone number. Groggily, he answers.

"Yeah?"

"Heey James, told ya we'd call you. A request for your presence."

"Fuck you." 

"Choose wisely. Get down here." Fifteen minutes later, footsteps echo down the dark hallway. She watches him walk past her and knock three times before they open the door.

"Ah, so you still remember your manners. Have a seat." 

"What do you want?" He is nervous, but his emotions go unseen as he takes the chair closet to the door for obvious reason.

"Well you owe us about a year and a half…maybe more…of your life, so what are we supposed to do about that?" James looks away. "Hmm?"

"I don't owe you anything!"

"Aw, not so defensive. I'm sure you don't need the stress. I've seen your medication prescription. I know. Who says a little unhappiness cant kill ya?" James grips the side arms of the chair, suppressing his rage. "You should have cooperated. Heartbreaking that she's gone."

"Do not talk about her."

"She was beautiful…a little freakish…" Stix shifts in his chair, uncomfortable at the thought. "Most definitely a bitch." James then lunges forward, but decides against it as other men do the same in his direction. "Watch yourself kid. Now back to what we were discussing." James goes to stand and leave, but is forced back into his seat by two men. "You have two choices. Come back to us, or suffer the consequences." Raven can't bare it any longer, so tiptoeing to the door, she pushes it open and all heads turn towards her except for that of James, who is too nervous to do so. She looks the older man directly in his eyes, and puts her finger to her lips. _Shh_.. She wraps her arms around James' neck and kisses his check. "A little heavy on the tear streaked eyeliner honey?" Stix goes completely white in the face. "What, you found a new freak James?" 

"Baby go."

"Well I guess your girlfriends will never learn." Sitting on his lap, he instinctively holds her. "New scenario. You go, she stays, you stay, she goes." Raven climbs onto the table and walks towards the other end. None of the boys see her as a threat, but several watch her backside as she passes. She stops in front of him, and he smiles. "Well maybe she's smarter than she looks."

"Maybe." She responds. Taking her four-inch platform boot, she kicks him in the face. They all pull guns on her, but he signals them to put the weapons away. He stands, and tripping her, pulls her off the table and facing them all, takes her arm bending it backwards. The other is around her neck. "We need a little time alone fellas. Take James back to his place." James is hesitant to go as the pull at him, but Raven mouths 'go." All the men escort him out and the man pushes her forward so that she catches herself on the edge of the wooden polished table, bending over. His hands slide from her back down to her thighs in a perverted fashion. As he touches her, she feels disgusted, almost sick to her stomach, knowing the thoughts that run through his head.

"Beautiful baby, gorgeous." A sick grin creeps to his lips. He leans over her and pushes himself against her. "Maybe you'll be better at this than the last one. Couldn't get near her….she was to strong…" He gropes her as he speaks. "James taught that one well…" A cold hand slides up her shirt.

"I am the last one." She raises her leg and kicks him between his legs. He slides back against the wall, and she sits on the table facing him. "Does it hurt?" He grunts, as he stands and pulls his gun from his side. "You cant kill the dead." He fires one short into the left side of her chest, and she forcefully is pushed backwards while she still points the gun. When she sits up, he is shocked. She snatches the gun and aims it at him. "One for me…" One shot placed in his right shoulder. "One for James…" One to his left, blood splattering onto the dirty white wall behind him. "And one for the unborn baby that you murdered…" She takes a card for her bra and presses it to his forehead. "The love you took away…the lives you've ruined." Her voice is shaky as tears fall down her face. She fires a single short through the Joker card, a mine juggling knives. "Joke's on you." She drops the gun and glances down at her chest, she is loosing blood at an alarming tare. Laughter from herself. A fit of laughter so strong and so out of place, that it can only be explained by shock. She staggers to her feet, and in time, makes it from the building and back to James. The moment he hears her broken footsteps, he rips open the door. "Baby, it's over now…" She almost collapses as she speaks. He takes her in his arms and brings her inside, sitting down on the couch.

"How the hell am I supposed to help you…your bleeding so much…" His mind flashes back to the night of her murder. 

"I'm ok…I'm fine…" She smiles and kisses him. He is worried, but passionately returns her kiss.

"I love you…"

"I love you now, forever, and always." They kiss until he blacks out.

            He awoke feeling ill, his head pounding. His body seemed to weigh him down to the floorboards. Folding his arms against his chest, he slowly walked into the living room. His memory served him with no reference to the night before, until he stumbled upon the blood-splattered floor that came to a pool nest to his feet. He seemed to be pushed back by some unidentifiable force as he landed on his backside. The rest of the color drained from his already pallid face as he internally held onto a scream that threatened to come roaring from his very being. Everything that he had thought to be a dream, more accurately, a nightmare, had been destroyed and affirmed by the cold dark liquid that now stained his floor. His chest heaved with his ragged breaths, and chills ran over his body. His mind wouldn't stop racing with thoughts for long enough to make sense and piece together the broken and confused parts.

            In a spur of the moment, he grabbed  a shirt that had been left upon the couch and his shoes. Running out to the street, he didn't stop, but only continued on, his hair blowing violently as his feet pounded against the wet pavement. His sight was partially blinded by the pouring rain, which also his streaming tears. By the time he reached the rusting black cemetery gates, he was trembling with both the cold and his pain. He couldn't decide if he actually wanted to enter. It was back and fourth, and he was fighting with himself. 

            Closing his eyes, James finally pushed the gate, and the creaking sound disguised his foot steps. His heart rate increased, and a lump rose in his throat as he followed his memory through the paths to the angel. His heart came to a stop as the light rain washed the blood away though the tree onto the marble, pure white statue. He fell to his knees as the dead thorns on the bottom of the pile of new roses pierced his legs and hands. The blood seeped into the ground. No one visited the grave beside himself…he hadn't placed the flowers. He couldn't cry. The only proof he would have was the vengence that had been sought. Love is death. 


End file.
